Theory of electrostatic and hydration interactions between helical macromolecules

Helices are common structural blocks of all living organisms. Their interactions play a crucial role in biology. Measurements have revealed unexpectedly strong repulsive and attractive forces at biologically relevant surface separations (0 to 20 Angstrom) between a variety of helical molecules [1-9]. These forces do not conform to the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory. In the preceding lecture we discussed these force measurements and their qualitative interpretations. In this lecture I describe the theoretical foundation behind some of these hypotheses and focus on the analysis of possible roles of these forces in various observed phenomena.